Shigella Blog - Surveillance & analysis on Shigella news & outbreaks

Seventy people who say they became ill last year after eating at a Lombard Subway filed suit Monday against the restaurant chain.

The complaint filed in DuPage County accuses the Subway at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road of strict product liability, negligence and breach of warranty in connection with a food poisoning outbreak in late February 2010.

Health officials at the time said they confirmed more than 120 cases of shigella associated with the outbreak, which closed the restaurant for more than six weeks.

The lawsuit names plaintiffs in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake and Will counties, as well as Wisconsin. A Subway spokesman said Monday the company does not comment on pending legal matters.

Lombard, Illinois, Subway Restaurant 2010

An outbreak of Shigella sonnei was linked to eating at the Subway Restaurant in Lombard, Illinois (DuPage County). Persons who had eaten at the restaurant between February 24 and March 1 and who had developed gastrointestinal illness were urged to see their health care providers. As of April 15, 2010, the cause of the illnesses was not known.

• Number Laboratory Confirmed Cases:  125

• Number Hospitalized:  13

For some past outbreaks, see the Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database

A third lawsuit has been filed by Marler Clark in the Shigella food poisoning outbreak from a Lombard Subway restaurant.

Wheeling resident Michael Carpino consumed a Subway sandwich on Feb. 25, and fell ill by the following day. The lawsuit states that 45-year-old Carpino is still suffering from Shigella infection symptoms.

Currently, Marler Clark represents more than 50 people in regards to the outbreak.

Dave Hass of the DuPage County Health Department said there were 78 confirmed Shigella cases linked to the Subway restaurant as of today. Eleven of those cases were hospitalized, and ten were discharged.

Hass also said the source of the Shigella is unknown at this time and might not be pinpointed. The restaurant has been closed since March 4.

Shigella infections are spread from person to person, and also can be acquired from contaminated food. The disease can be prevented by frequent hand washing with soap and water.

People who have developed these symptoms between Feb. 24 to March 1 after eating at the Lombard Subway restaurant are advised to contact their physicians and the DuPage County Health Department at (630) 682-7400. More information on shigellosis is available at www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbshigellosis.htm.

The Allegheny County Health Department today reported that a growing number of county residents are being diagnosed with a diarrheal illness known as shigellosis.

A news release said 60 shigellosis cases have been reported countywide since October -- 34 so far this year -- compared to just 12 cases of the disease in all of 2008 and five in 2007. Nearly half of the 60 cases were children 5 or younger and about one-third of the cases had contact with a family member or someone in a school or day care center who had diarrheal illness.